A FORMER nun has been jailed after she was found guilty of cruelly abusing children in homes in Scotland run by the Catholic order, the Sisters of Nazareth.
Carol Buirds, 75, as well as fellow former nun Eileen McElhinney, 78, and 68-year-old Dorothy Kane, who was employed as a support worker, were found guilty of subjecting multiple victims to cruel and unnatural treatment between 1972 and 1981.
The offences took place at children's homes in Lasswade in Midlothian and Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, with victims aged between five and 14 when the abuse began.
The court heard how children were rubbed in urine-socked bedding, locked in cupboards and beaten with objects.
At Edinburgh Sheriff Court this week, Buirds, of Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, was jailed for 15 months.
McElhinney, of Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, was made subject to a 12-month Probation Order and ordered to perform 240 hours of unpaid work.
She was also ordered to remain within her home address between the hours of 4pm and midnight for nine months.
Kane, of Lasswade, Midlothian, was given a community service order with a requirement to complete 150 hours of unpaid work within nine months.
"Carol Buirds, Eileen McElhinney and Dorothy Kane were entrusted with the care of vulnerable children but instead they betrayed that trust and inflicted lasting harm through their criminal actions," said Faith Currie, Procurator Fiscal for Lothian and Borders.
Force-fed and beaten
During the five-week trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court late last year, the prosecution presented multiple strands of evidence including verbal accounts from former residents, an ex-staff member and a social worker.
Buirds, who was known as Sister Carmel Rose, was found guilty of 13 charges including assault to severe injury.
Her offences included rubbing urine-soaked bedding on children and forcing food and soap into their mouths.
She also locked one child in a cupboard and another in an unlit cellar without access to water.
Buirds was also found to have repeatedly assaulted children, often using implements such as a belt, a wooden ruler and a stick.
McElhinney, who was known as Sister Mary Eileen, was found guilty of five charges including assault.
As well as violently assaulting young children, she also forced them to stand in cold showers and sit in cold baths.
She used a hairbrush to hit one child on the buttocks and hurt another with a metal comb, refusing to stop brushing his hair despite him being in pain.
Kane was found guilty of two charges of cruel and unnatural treatment for repeatedly grabbing a boy, including by the hair, and restraining him by forcing her knees onto his chest.
She also failed to intervene when witnessing another member of staff assaulting the child and forced a second young person into a cupboard before locking him in.
'Sustained and systematic abuse'
"It is now a matter of public record that they gravely breached their duty of care while holding positions of trust and authority at Nazareth House," said Ms Currie.
"Although these offences took place decades ago, such abuse has never been acceptable and should never have happened.
"The charge of cruel and unnatural treatment reflects the sustained and systematic nature of this abuse over an extended period.
"Scotland's prosecutors remain fully committed to bringing non-recent child abuse cases before the courts, no matter how much time has passed since these crimes were committed."
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